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JD has spent the last couple of days photographing and pricing the many toys he realises he won't be able to take to the UK.  We've sent lists to my private students, to friends with children and to our local neighbourhood. I think he's found the whole downsizing (and money-making) process quite cathartic!
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 Someone's enjoying not returning to (Chinese state) school today!
JD and I shared a nice meal at Swedish IKEA yesterday with a friend of over 20 years, "Nita", and her cute 7-year old daughter "Julia". The last time I saw Julia, she was two years old. Now she speaks some English, thanks to her Mum's ongoing efforts to bring her up bi-lingually.  It was lovely to catch up with them. And share some western food!
Despite the last fortnight being a National Holiday, my private lessons have continued apace. In fact, many of the parents have asked for extra lessons because their kids have more free time in the holiday and they know I'm leaving in a few months - cramming in as many lessons as they can, while they can!
JiaJia, JD and I visited Kunming's newly relocated Science Museum yesterday with another Foreigner/Chinese family we know. It has more exhibits than before, and more of them are now in working order! We had a fun couple of hours exploring. Can you see what's unusual about the pillars [above left]?
I'm in no doubt that all of the family will miss Kunming for their own reasons, when we leave in a few months. Jiajia will pine for her friends and the spicy noodles. JD will have to leave a lot of toys and books behind. And it's been a comfortable life for me here for some 16 years. I know my way about and I've investigated every nook and cranny over the years [such as the super-thin "Moon and Chalice hotel", below]. 
We visited an outlet mall yesterday (primarily to buy new sports shoes for JD) and stumbled across some rather good Chinese New Year celebrations with dancing dragons, stilted monks giving out blessings and acrobatic lions leaping from one high pole to another.
 This weekend is likely to be our last Spring Festival in China. JD enjoyed letting off his fireworks yesterday evening and, with no home-schooling for a few days, we can have some late mornings and play some games [eg Risk]. With the Spousal Visa application finally in, we are focusing more now on packing, saying goodbyes and the practicalities of leaving the country. Three months and counting.  A gift for me when I was one year old [left], now JD looks after Big Ted and arranged for him to be restuffed a few days after this photo [right] was taken.   Ten weeks of compiling paperwork culminated in the upload of about 40 documents today, hoping that's enough to convince the British Government to give my good wife a Spousal Visa. We head to a biometrics centre on Tuesday for fingerprinting and iris-scanning, after which we have a nervy 3+ months to wait for a decision!
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 AuthorPaul Hider started this blog to share his rather odd life living in China for over 20 years. Since returning to the UK in 2024, the blog now records his more "normal" lifestyle! Past blog entries
December 2024
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